International Alumni Meeting 2023 in Berlin
On 15-17 September, many Alumni dressed in style to take part in our CIFE Alumni Meeting 2023 which took place under a special motto this year, “The Roaring Twenties”! The weekend started with an opening reception at the Ballhaus Berlin – the place where Berlin’s dance-mad public of the Belle Epoque met since 1905: spiral staircase, stucco walls, table telephones and chandeliers formed a fabulous setting for our aperitif to meet old and new faces of the CIFE Alumni family.
Our guests were greeted by Matthias Waechter, CIFE Director General, and Emre Gur, CIFE Alumni Director. Arne Krasting, author and expert of Berlin’s Roaring Twenties, gave an introduction to the eventful history of the Ballhaus.
On Saturday, a bus equipped with monitors, took us on a trip back in time to the 1920s to discover places of everyday life, culture and politics and personalities such as Marlene Dietrich, Albert Einstein, Josephine Baker and other prominent figures of the 1920s, the most dazzling decade in Berlin’s history.
Our traditional dinner took place in an exceptional setting: Hugo & Notte, a restaurant in the French Cathedral at Gendarmenmarkt. What better way to acknowledge our Franco-German background! We had the pleasure to welcome Marius Schlageter, Vice President of the German National Youth Council and Board Member at the European Movement Germany, for his keynote speech on the “State of the EU from a German Perspective”.
We thank all our guests from near and far for joining us in Berlin and we look forward to seeing you again in 2024, location to be announced soon!
(c) photos Jan Bechberger